If you suffer from high blood pressure, you probably should not read this column today or the
front-page story by reporter Dan Gearino.

If you have a short fuse, now might be a good time to take a walk, do some yoga or practice some
deep-breathing exercises.

If you’re still reading, you might not believe what follows. But it’s true:

A gap in state law allows companies to buy electricity and water, and resell them to
unsuspecting apartment and condo dwellers at a considerable profit. But unlike other utilities, the
rates these middlemen charge are not subject to state regulation. They can charge whatever they
want. And unlike most Ohioans, these tenants have no ability to challenge it, nor can they shop
around for the best deal on utilities.

As of this moment, they are hostages with no one to save them.

This could change because of Gearino’s report, which continues through Tuesday.

Gearino, a business news reporter who has conducted a number of investigations for us, uncovered
what some would call “a loophole” and others “a business opportunity” after getting a call from a
reader. She was upset that she had been slapped with a big late fee on her electricity bill.

“I get these kinds of calls all the time, but this one was unusual. I had never heard of her
electric company, and I’m the guy who covers electric companies,” Gearino said.

He spent nearly a year investigating the problem, tracking down people affected by it and
interviewing those who are behind the legal but largely unknown program.

After those months of work, “I interviewed dozens of customers and reviewed their bills. I found
that unregulated companies were buying electricity from the utility and reselling it to apartment
residents, with total bills that are more than the regulated prices. In essence, some apartment
residents are excluded from consumer protections governing the price and quality of electricity
service. This affects residents of roughly 130 apartment or condominium complexes in central
Ohio."

He noted: “These practices would be illegal in most states.”

Gearino said the biggest challenge to reporting the story was “the complexity of the subject
matter. Most people do not understand their electricity bills, much less the hard-to-spot
differences in the bills that come from these unregulated companies.”

Everyone who hears about this practice, called sub-metering, can’t believe that it’s legal. But
it is.

The only way to fix the problem is through the Ohio legislature. Maybe Gov. John Kasich will ask
lawmakers to patch the hole in utility regulation law, or maybe the well-intentioned members of the
General Assembly will see a problem with some 20,000 apartment and condo dwellers in central Ohio
and a potential 1.3 million statewide not being afforded the same protections as the rest of
us.

This is the type of journalism that drew my interest to becoming a reporter.

Like many of my generation, the Watergate scandal inspired me. What two reporters, a gutsy
editor and resolute publisher at
The Washington Post did for this nation captivated me. It was the early 1970s, and I was
not yet a teenager. But journalists’ ability to hold government officials accountable was something
that drove me into this career.

In the past two decades,
The Dispatch has become much more focused on investigative, watchdog journalism. My
predecessors and our publisher began assembling the team of journalists who can do that challenging
work with tenacity and precision, and we’ve tried to build on that.

We plan to do much more in the months and years ahead. This brand of journalism is the kind of
work you tell us you greatly appreciate. We know it’s the type of watchdog reporting that is best
done by newspapers.

And one key point for you to remember: This story originated with a tip from a reader. So don’t
be bashful about dropping us a line. You never know where it might lead.

Benjamin J. Marrison is editor of The Dispatch. You can read his blog at
dispatch.com/blogs.